


Unicorn from the Forest of Laurels

by TheSeasonOfWinter



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: AU, Body Modification, Character Death, M/M, Magic, Shapeshifting, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 21:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16648154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSeasonOfWinter/pseuds/TheSeasonOfWinter
Summary: A Last Unicorn AU with some cheeky twistsDamen gave that bright smile again, and it was like staring at the sunrise back in his home. “You said you’re from a laurel forest, so how about the name Laurent?”





	1. The Last

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the start or a writing urge

The laurel wood seemed to glow softly as the wind gently brushed the tall grass and as the moon gazed fondly on the still pool. 

A unicorn lay by the water, white body shimmering in the night as the beast’s lion tail swished back and forth. The serene yet calculating blue eyes of the creature focused on the gentle ripples that breached the water whenever he dipped in a hoof. 

There were visitors to his wood today, men, who as always brought troubling news. 

“Good luck to you. For you are the last.”

He had not thought of his own kind in years, maybe centuries. One does not pay attention to things that seem resolute. 

The sun coming up in the morning. 

The moon follows. 

Rains falls. 

And unicorns bare witness to it all. 

The last of his kind he had seen for himself was his brother, slaughtered by a griffin in a territorial dispute. It was a memory he thought about often but could not assign an attitude towards it. Just the mild sorrow that came with the death of deathless things which inspired him to lower his head and neigh softly, horn shining for a flash. 

Yet he knew that not all of the unicorns could be killed off. It would take skill and hatred to murder his kind, skill men rarely had and hate many legends refused to indulge it. 

Eternity was too long to hate some things. 

The moon was shying away from his eyes, creeping out of sight to make room for the new day, and the unicorn stood slowly but gracefully. He stayed to see the sunrise from his pool, see the golden gaze take in his violets and his laurels. 

Time seemed both so slow and so quick. Hours passing as seconds and years passing like hours. His visceral timelessness kept him so far from reality and yet so deeply rooted in it, he sometimes did not know what to do with the life he has in spades. 

He watches as the subjects of his laurel forest are born and blinks to witness them die. They all seemed to delicate, the chipmunks, the birds, the deer, and foxes. A millennia ago, maybe longer for he never kept track, when the unicorn first entered his laurel haven, he vowed it to be his and to protect it from all wishing it harm. Usually his home brought him serenity, but such moods evaded him this morning. 

He walked slowly through a meadow and over a hill, eyes gazing at the road that has sprouted up sometime in between his blinks. He saw no one passing but eyes it just the same. He wondered is any of his kind had walked that road without his knowledge, drifting off into the unknown and disappearing. 

The last …

It was cruel of fate to be the last of anything, and he could not decided if it was worse to be the last one or to be the one who was left behind. 

Something fluttered by his ear, and he gave a slight cry of surprise as a soft blue butterfly whizzed passed, babel of tunes and lullabies and rhymes pouring from its mouth. 

The unicorn stomped a hoof. “What business requires a guest to startle their host so early into the dawn?”

The butterfly curled back to him, and the unicorn resisted turning in multiple directions to keep and eye on it. 

“I wonder if he dreams of surrender on a bed of white flowers” the butterfly sang in a jumpy voice, dancing by his horn. “ or is that the mistaken hope of every would be conqueror?” 

Without an adequate response, the unicorn continued. “Do you know me?”

“I'd rather watch my kingdom fall” the butterfly continued absentmindedly. 

A sudden violet hope sprung in his chest. “Have you seen others like me?”

The butterfly’s wings were blue blurs. “I want it all or not at all.” 

He waited, gazing at the insect, but he was denied a response again. Irritated, the unicorn turned his head quickly, the white mane flying pointedly in the path of the butterfly, causing it to quickly change directions. 

“If it doesn't suit you,” the unicorn spoke in a voice of barely contained frustration. “Then I will withhold my questions. I would not permit a guest to my home to be subjected to unimportant inquiries.”

He took one step before the butterfly flew in front of his nose. 

“Unicorn.” It said bluntly before repeating it in different voices, accents, and languages. 

The unicorns tail thrashed. “You know me. Have you seen more?”

“The red bull took their bravery.” The butterfly danced. “Will he take yours? Will you give it to him?”

“The red bull.” The unicorn repeated, demanding an explanation. 

The butterfly stopped, seeming to droop and floated softly onto a blade of grass. “They passed through the world long ago and the red bull ran close behind and covered their footprints.”

Ice seemed into his heart. “Dead or missing.”

The butterfly’s wings opened and closed slowly. “Still.”

A question was just on his tongue just as the butterfly sprang up with all its vigor from before, singing of a king’s hold before fluttering away. 

 

~•~

With the next return of the moon, he found himself on unsteady hooves by the road. His haven of laurels was to his back, and his eyes were facing the horizon. The subjects of his forest were seeing him off, and they tried to keep their fear and despair in check and under his nose. 

As if he wouldn't notice. 

He started forward with false confidence but unbreaking pretense. He walked away from his home and kept going, not looking back. 

He was not the last unicorn in existence, only the last free one. 

And how lucky the rest of his kind were, that it was him and his determination to bring them back. 

The days seemed longer on the road, the minutes and hours stretched to their full capacity. He tried to dodge humans as much as he could, and those who saw him only confused him for a white stallion. 

Men did not believe in his existence and it was the perfect protection for his journey. He had no destination in mind, but felt in his heart and in his magic that he was about to find a clue. 

A reason was approaching and he was prepared. 

The moon rested blearily on the horizon line as the unicorn curled into a ball by a tree in a small grove. He was concealed and was prepared to sleep. He only seemed to close his eyes for a second before he felt the ground sudder and jerk. 

He pulled himself to his feet and snorted his displeasure as his mind supplied him with an explanation. He could taste the sleep spell in his mouth, could breathe the rancid are or his cage, and hear the bustle of bodies outside. 

A caravan, his journey had already turned rotten.

A circle of cages just like his rested in an open field next to a road. Tents were being constructed, and the unicorn watched as jugglers, and contortionists, and other performers wandered around. 

A tall, ugly man was bellowing out orders, pointing fingers and hitting those who walked to close. His watched as the man grabbed a younger boy by the back of his shirt and pulled him clean off the ground. The boy cried out and dropped a bag which cause the ugly man to shake him. 

The unicorn stomped his hoof and snorted in fury, planning on driving attention towards him, but another man had appeared on the scene. 

Looking to be the strong man, he was tall, and broad with dark curly hair and healthy tanned skin. His stood almost a head taller than the ugly man and became speaking when he was close enough. 

He saw them argue and eventually the ugly man walked away after dropping the boy on the ground like a sack of meat. The taller man picked him up and sent him on his way before making eye contact with the unicorn. He seemed like he was waiting for his gaze, and the man gave a quick look around before running over to the unicorn’s cage. 

He drew back as the man approached, not looking cowed but still distrustful. 

The dark man put his hands around the bars and leaned in close. Dark eyes scanning the unicorn with open admiration. 

“You're awake!” He whisper yelled happily, the joy palpable in his deep voice. 

The unicorn gave another irritated snort. “I'm pleased to see how far humanity has progressed to notice.”

The man looked taken aback before busying himself in closer to his cage. “Govart placed a spell on you when we traveled by and brought you here.”

The unicorn could have guessed as much but it felt more than just a sleeping spell. He felt off kilter, like he had a constant headache. 

The man seemed to understand his mind, as he bit his lip as if deciding whether or not to share certain information. 

The unicorn shifter closer to the human and saw deep into his dark eyes. There was a feeling of otherworldliness that made him draw back. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the human. He could not see or feel anything off about him other than the fact that he reminded the unicorn of something. Something old and powerful and just beyond comprehension. 

His thoughts were halted however, when he noticed something glowing in the man’s dark eyes. 

There was another horn, a cruder, perverted version of his own sitting on his forehead, right before his real horn. 

Anger coursed through the unicorn’s veins as he realized what other cruel spell had been forced on him. “I have been brought so low to where humans must have a fake horn to understand what stands before them?”

The man nods, a scowl taking over his face as he shared the unicorn’s sentiment. 

“I know you.” He growled, his fury catching the unicorn’s attention. “I know you, and the world seeks you but never sees. They should not take what they are unwilling to believe in.”

The unicorn regarded this man. This strange man that defends trapped unicorns and bullied circus boys.

He asks bluntly, in a tone that is not to be denied. “Who are you.”

The man is shocked from his anger at the question before giving a night sun smile. “Please know me as Damen. I am working here to by time for a plan.”

“A plan?” 

Damen looks at him incredulously. “A plan to free you all of course.”

The unicorn had not the chance to see who all resided in the cages around him, but he looked now. 

Poorly constructed illusions were placed over different desolate creatures. hurt apes into Satyrs, old lions into manticores, a real unicorn with a forced horn to show off to others. There was another cage that was farther away from the others, it was covered in a black clothe and it shook from time to time like whatever was inside was writhing. He was drawn to this last cage like he was drawn to what ever lurked inside Damen. There was something familiar here, and the unicorn could not place it. 

“I will get you all out.” Damen vowed. “I know why you are traveling, for there is only one reason a creature such as yourself would leave their home. Just wait a little longer. We have a show tonight but I should be able to do it after.”

The unicorn regarded Damen again, his mind stuttering at this human’s ideas. “What does it serve you to help us? You will be jobless from it.” 

Damen smiled and leaned back. “I have something I can take up after this, unicorn.”

He paused and gave the creature a thoughtful gaze. “What is your name?”

The unicorn faltered. A name? He had none. His was himself and those that mattered knew him. There was never a reason to divide himself with a name. What human didn't make any sense to him, but he wanted this human’s assistance so he helped him specify. 

“I have no name, but” the unicorn continued after Damen opened his mouth in astonishment, “ I am the unicorn from a forest of laurels. That is my home and I identify with it alone.”

Damen stared at him in contemplation, and the unicorn was once again struck by the strange feeling that this was a familiar person. Like he understood what stood before him when he most certainly did not. 

He was shook from his reverie when Damen asked an alarming question. 

“May I provide you with a name I may call you?”

The unicorn’s tail thrashed as this human’s audacity, but Damen threw up his hands in mild panic. 

“I don't mean to overstep, but” he paused. “Things have names and names are important. They identify you to others and I want to be able to recognize you if you need me.” 

The unicorn stared at this human, fury still churning slightly beneath his skin, but he needed this human and it had nothing to do with the man's earnest expression. 

“What,” the unicorn asked, “do you have in mind?”

Damen gave that bright smile again and it was like staring at the sunrise back in his home. “You said you're from a laurel forest, so how about the name Laurent?”


	2. The Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The escape was planned, though Damen wasn't exactly told about it.

Hours passed by before the show started. The unicorn watched as humans started to flow into the tent, coming off of carriages and off the road. Noise encompassed the whole caravan, and the headache already forced on him from the spell grew. 

Damen has run off to the main tent after throwing the name at him, claiming that he must get back to work or nothing can be planned by tonight. 

“Goodbye, Laurent. I am with you!”

The unicorn was slightly astonished by the entire interaction between the man and himself, and was also slightly touched by it. Though he did not understand the purpose of naming things, the reverence that Damen spoke of them made him think. 

And it somewhat made the unicorn excited to hear the name Laurent and know that it was meant for him. Which then induced a fit of frustration about being so pleased about it.

He had been padding around his cage, moving into any available space he could as the day dragged on, when people started coming out to view the menagerie. 

The ugly man, Govart, started a tour, pointing at various cages and spewing lies to the awed onlookers who walked around with dropped jaws. The unicorn watched them go and also kept an eye on the two workers pushing the shrouded cage into the circle. He was the last in line, and he moved to better see the crowd slowly approaching the mystery cage. 

Govart swung his arms wide. “And right next to the Midgard Serpent is the most terrifying beast of all!”

He leapt closer to a young boy who was standing nearby, scaring the child. “It could rip you apart in seconds and would enjoy every minute of it! In the very heart of Hades does it roam, torturing evil souls for all eternity!”

He pulled the curtain away, and the crowd gasped and screamed as the unicorn's heart fell to the bottom of the wooden cage. 

Inside was a harpy, brittle from incarceration with anger, hatred, and shame burning in her eyes. There was no room for her to spread her wings, but she flailed as much as she could, screaming and cawing at the crowd. The unicorn watched silently. He knew this harpy, it was Jokaste, the most powerful out of the three of her kind. He had heard of her, felt her spirit over his forest, and now he sees her brought low, her glory and power all but profit for a human man.

The unicorn had no way of knowing how long Jokaste had been here, trapped, but he could only wish he had known sooner. Wished he could have prevented anything. Very few things could be contained, and rarely should it happen.

“Govart caught her in her sleep a few months ago, just like he got you.”

The unicorn did not jump or glance over at Damen who was hiding slightly behind his cage, trying to stay out of sight. The man’s dark eyes were gazing at the creature in what seemed to be sorrow. Not pity, the unicorn noticed, but sorrow, as If Damen actually knew her.

Damen peeked around a little more. “She is why I couldn't figure out how to free everyone yet. As soon as I release her, she will kill everyone here. But now that you're here, I think our chances have gone from suicide mission to foolhardy escapade.”

What a lovely outlook. The unicorn felt his magic sway under his skin, aching for freedom. It had to be tonight, his spirit would languish behind these iron bars. c

The unicorn stayed perfectly still and silent, which seemed to make Damen nervous. 

“Laurent, I -” Damen was cut off by Govart. 

“Get away from there!” The ugly man was stomping up to the cage. “Get back to work!”

Damen slipped away while whispering “I'm with you, Laurent.” And the unicorn couldn't figure out if he kept repeating that name because he liked to say it or to make sure the unicorn didn't forget he had one. 

He watched as the crowd formed around him, seeing the faces become vulnerable as they realized what he was. 

Govart walked in front of them all, looking proud. “I hardly believe this creature needs an introduction.”

He turned to face the unicorn, yellow teeth bared in what could possibly be a smile. He leaned in closer, resting a hand on the bars and spoke in an oily voice. “A unicorn. The magical worlds crown jewel, untouched and dangerous, and entirely under my control.”

Laurent’s fury rose, swiftly and deadly, taking aim like a notched arrow. 

“I do not doubt that you have an unhealthy desire to have anything at all underneath you.” Laurent spoke smoothly, his voice melodic and cutting. “But, to put in layman's terms which are probably necessary for your understanding, what storm would ever lower itself to be controlled by a rotten blade of grass?”

The crowd was aroused with murmurs, in awe and fear and discontent. Yes, the unicorn thought, wonder at what you see, at what you paid to witness. They longed for a unicorn, so every sharp, icey edge will be theirs to possess, that and nothing more.

Out of the corner of his eye, the unicorn could see Jokaste’s spell-hazy gaze, fixated on him. 

Govart scowled and slammed his arm against the cage, rattling it but the unicorn remained sure footed and unflinching inside. 

Spittle flew from the man’s mouth as he retorted, all according to the unicorn’s hopes. “So you say, and yet who is in the cage.”

If a unicorn could smile, he would be doing so now. “Your power is an illusion, and not the only one present. Just because something is contained does not mean it is yours. It must be broken down completely into something fashioned to your liking, it must be wholly obliterated of everything that made it itself until it is filled with you only. Only then is something yours. So, from what I see, you own nothing here.”

The crowd was even more restless, talk of agreement and revolt simmering from person to person. It is after all, better to agree with the pretty unicorn than with the dirty man before them. Govart shot a dirty look to the throng of customers, mouth twitching in his fury. The mob was following the unicorn, and the unicorn just threatened to out his scam along with trampling his sense of respect. 

Someone would have to be put in their place.

Govart snapped his fingers. “Erasmus! Damen! I want iron chains now! There shall be a punishment, for how could one of my possessions dare to say such hurtful things?”

 

The unicorn wanted to laugh. It was too pathetic. 

He eyed Damen’s hulking form moving forward slowly as if he couldn’t care less about his orders. There was a smaller, jumpier human beside him, hands shaking as he brought forth the chains.

Govart smiled. “I’m letting the boy in with you, so either you trample and kill an innocent or you wear the chains.”

The unicorn wasn’t that concerned, especially after he saw Damen casually toss a pair of keys up in the air before stuffing them back in his pocket. Maybe humans were good for something.

Erasmus entered the cage on wobbly knees after Damen unlocked it, the chains clinking in his hands. He was a soft looking youth, blond hair and fair skin and big eyes. The unicorn wondered what else has been specifically under Govart’s control here. 

The chains looped around the unicorn’s neck, cold and bewitched against pure white. Erasmus hurried out as soon as the chain was secure, passing the end to Damen before skirting around the back of the cage and out of the unicorn’s line of sight. Damen gestured with his free hand to come out rather than pulling on the chain, and the unicorn was grateful for at least some respect.

Once a hoof was set down on the dirt, Govart’s dirty fingers grasped the unicorn’s mane, tugging harshly as the crowd gasped and unicorn whinnied.

“You should find it in yourself to be grateful.” The man’s breath was foul, but the unicorn bided his time. “You could have ended up ‘under’ the Regent if I hadn’t found you first. Lord knows that man with take anything resembling a unicorn.”

A second away from yanking himself loose, the unicorn stopped cold, blue eyes slamming into Govart’s muggy yellow ones. “What. Does that remark have something to do with the Red Bull?”

Govart laughed in his face, fingers starting to card through the unicorn’s mane, sending shivers of disgust through his body. “Ya know of it? I suppose so if you’ve evaded him this long, but don’t fret none. I’ll keep you from him.”

The unicorn, barely going to acknowledge that mark, was interrupted from asking more questions like ‘where are the others’ ‘who is the Regent’ and ‘where are they’ by Damen’s fist slamming into Govart’s ugly face, sending the man flying.

The unicorn straightened and gazed at Damen, ignoring the crowd’s shouts of alarm, and Govart’s groan. Damen actually had the gall to look at him with a proud yet hopeful expression. Like he wanted to be told he did good by cutting the unicorn’s interrogation short.

Damen reached for him, but the unicorn had had enough of people touching him, and so he shed the chains himself. With the heavy weight literally off his shoulders, the unicorn’s mind began to clear as the last of any enchantment slipped off his form like cold rain.

The crowd’s noise didn’t die down when they noticed that the unicorn’s horn had disappeared. 

Govart jumped to his feet, practically foaming at the mouth as his wild eyes jumped from Damen and the unicorn. Damen actually put himself between the two, as if he had a better shot of protecting the unicorn that the other way around.

The unicorn however, could see the sanity vaporizing between Govart’s ears, leaving nothing but instinct and fury, and the unicorn, frankly was through with this man.

He was of no more use, so Laurent did what would most certainly be the most annoying thing to the man. With one stomp of a hoof and one wave of his horn, all the cage doors blasted open, willing to freedom by a magic too strong and far too old to be denied. 

Chaos erupted throughout the menagerie, woman screaming, picking up their children and running. Men shouted and braced themselves to fight monsters that turned out to be nothing but abused animals with sad eyes. 

Laurent met Govart’s eyes as the man seethed. 

“Maybe a rotten blade of grass was too generous.” Laurent’s tail snapped. “It appears a stale pile of cow shit was more accurate.”

Damen’s laugh and Govart’s scream were cut short by another’s call.

The sound of snapping wooden planks added more fuel to the figurative fire as Jokaste arose in all her terrible glory, ten foot wingspan extended and bloodlust in clear eyes.

“Good.” She said, her voice refined but full of a wickedness that could only be possessed by her. She tore down from the sky, tearing at the heads of screaming customers, ripping apart skull like one would wave away smoke. Bodies crumbled and the screaming got louder, and Govart finally put his magic to use, pulling a disguise and a subtle shield over his form. 

“If you believe that I will forget this,” he snarled, “you are stupider than you appear. The Regent will find you and if you be his along with the rest of your miserable kind, and when you succumb to that fate, I will laugh.”

With those lovely parting words, Govart melted into the mass of panicking people, and Laurent prayed that Jokaste’s aim would be true. 

“Damen!” Came a panicked scream just behind the unicorn. 

The blond youth from before, Erasmus was charging over to them, tears and terror shining in his eyes. Damen took a couple steps toward him, but Erasmus was already there, his sprint carrying him far. Someone had knocked over the torchers and many tents and cages were on fire, spreading from the dry grass, and Jokaste screeched in glee.

“What now?” Erasmus was shaking and Damen was holding his elbows in an attempt to keep him from shaking into a fit. “What- what do we -”

 

The kid was going to hyperventilate, and the unicorn inched closer to him. 

Damen shoved a pouch in Erasmus’ hands, curling his fingers around it. His voice was low and smooth as he spoke. “This is enough to get you to Patras. Go to the border guard and show them this.”

Damen handed over a small note that he produced from his pocket. The seal was unbroken. 

 

“Say you are to deliver a message to Torveld from Akielos. This seal is proof and they will get you to him. Torveld owes me a favor, tell him Damianos sent you.” Damen kept direct eye contact with Erasmus even as the boy’s eyes widened in confusion.

“W-what?” He stuttered. “You have connections like that and you worked at a carnival, why don’t you -”

Damen shook his head, urgency becoming apparent in his tone. “I promised the unicorn I would help him find the rest of his kind. I am going to the Regent’s land, where you cannot go if you wish to remain safe.”

Damen pushed him forward gently. “Go, and walk slowly and calming. It will attract the harpy to you if you run.”

Erasmus looked in panicked confusion at Damen and then to the unicorn before he shut his eyes tight and walked away. “I’ll remember you.” Was his goodbye call.

The unicorn started walking away too, Damen following next to him. 

“I don’t recall,” the unicorn started, “any promise you made to accompany me to save my brothers and sisters, Damianos.”

Damen winced. “Please just Damen, that name is too long for my tastes. And I actually have business in Vere myself, and I know you don’t know where that is or who is awaiting you.”

“And you do, then?”

 

The sound of the chaos faded the farther away they walked, the massacre becoming a memory in favor of pressing survival concerns. 

Damen’s eyes darkened in anger and bitterness, lips pressing into a line. 

“The Regent,” he began, “has something that doesn’t belong to him, and this has lead to conflict with other kingdoms. He is a sick, greedy man who only longs for one thing according to history.”

“And what is that?”

Damen looked at him dead in the eye, no hint of pretense in his gaze. “He wants you and everything you own and everything that could ever come to you. And he’ll try to take you just like he took the others.”

The unicorn barely reacted, just continued walking forward with his head high, but inside was a storm. A troubled knot of emotions swirling just under his skin.

“Then,” Laurent said, “let’s go find the man who claims to be my doom.”


End file.
